← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
PANIC Continues: Democrats are Freaking, Pressuring Biden to Drop Out
00:39:49
Loading summary
Transcript168 lines
- [00:01]
Ted Cruz
Welcome. It is the Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, and I hope you had a fabulous fourth of July. And it was a interesting fourth of July at the White House. Now, the White House saying that the president did see a doctor days after the debate, and they're also saying we ain't dropping out, at least as of now.
- [00:22]
Ben Ferguson
Well, let me first of all say for the 4th of July, happy birthday, America. What an incredible country we live in. What an extraordinary nation. I think the most consequential nation in the history of the world. I think we were built with God's blessing, with divine providence. I think America has been a force for good, for freedom, for liberation, for.
- [00:43]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Peace, the greatest force for liberation, peace.
- [00:48]
Ben Ferguson
And justice on the face of the earth. And so July 4th is a great time to celebrate our nation, to hug your children, to, to. To eat hot dogs and hamburgers and backyard barbecue and play with your kids and love life. So that's number one. I hope your fourth was fantastic.
- [01:08]
Unnamed Political Commentator
But number two, politics continues to roll.
- [01:11]
Ben Ferguson
On, and in particular, we're in day.
- [01:14]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Eight now of debate. Mageddon the aftermath of the most consequential.
- [01:19]
Ben Ferguson
Presidential debate in American history. Eight days ago, the night of the debate, Ben and I did a special podcast that evening.
- [01:28]
Unnamed Political Commentator
That evening we discussed how the disastrous.
- [01:31]
Ben Ferguson
Performance from Joe Biden demonstrated to the.
- [01:34]
Unnamed Political Commentator
World, this man is not fit to be commander in chief. For many people, it raised the question whether he was fit to tie his.
- [01:40]
Ben Ferguson
Own shoes or to drive an automobile.
- [01:44]
Unnamed Political Commentator
My prediction then, and that's what I said the night of the debate, I think the odds have risen to 80% that the Democrats will pull Joe Biden off the ticket. They will abandon him as their candidate, and they will replace him with Michelle Obama. This is something that I had predicted nine months ago. Nine months ago, I said it was a possibility. It was a real possibility. I now think the odds are greater than 80%. And I also made another prediction on Thursday night.
- [02:15]
Ben Ferguson
I said I thought it was likely.
- [02:17]
Unnamed Political Commentator
To happen within the next 21 days. We are on day eight today. That means we have 13 more days within the window of when they are likely to do it. And I think we're seeing every day growing momentum as more and more Democrats are jumping ship and saying we gotta do something different.
- [02:35]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. And the excuses are getting truly incredible. We're gonna play one of them in just a moment. That deals with jet lag as the new excuse about why he had a bad debate night. Before I tell you about that, I want to remind you about what's going on in Israel. The people in Israel right now still very much desperately need your help. They are absolutely under attack this time with a massive rocket attack that just came in from Hezbollah. Since October 7, attacks on Israel have increased with Iran and its proxies launching attack after attack, hundreds and hundreds of drones and missiles. Israel and the Israeli people are living with the harsh reality of terror every day. And the need right now is bomb shelters. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is on the ground right now addressing all the urgent needs. And that's why I want you to partner with IFCJ today. While praying for the best, IFCJ is also preparing for the worst by packing emergency bomb shelter kits that can be delivered immediately to those in desperate need. And your life saving donation today will help assemble and place these kits with enough food and life saving emergency supplies for 20 people huddled in a bomb shelter. The cost to put together and distribute these kits is just $290. And your gift will help save lives. And thanks to a matching challenge from a generous IFC supporter, your gift will be doubled in impact to help provide twice the support. Now all you have to do is call them Triple 8488 IFCJ. That's 888-488ICJ. 888488 IFCJ. You can also go online to support IFCJ.org to give. That's one word. Support IFCJ.org to stand with the people in Israel. I mentioned a moment ago that this White House is floundering on a level I didn't even know was imaginable in their response to this debate. And every time you think they can't get any worse, they then do something that is even more incompetent in the response. I want to play for you, Senator. This, this is the White House press secretary floating the idea that the reason why Joe Biden had a bad night the other night is that he was suffering from jet lag almost two weeks, 14 days after traveling. Here is the White House press secretary trying to sell this to the American people.
- [05:09]
Karine Jean-Pierre
Thank you. There's no question that international travel can be rigorous. I think the confusion is that he's still suffering from the effects of that nearly two weeks later. So can you articulate a little bit about like, do you guys usually have accommodations for him after he does a trip that he's going to have jet lag for that long a period of time?
- [05:30]
Unnamed White House Official
So can you, can you, when you say two weeks later, what do you.
- [05:32]
Karine Jean-Pierre
Mean he arrives back in the United States 12 or 13 days before the debate. So his explanation for a poor debate performance is jet lag.
- [05:41]
Unnamed White House Official
So what I want to say is it's the jet lag and also the cold, right? It is the two things and that occurred. And you all heard it in his voice when he did the debate, right? And it is not even something that we shared ahead of time. You heard it in his voice and we confirmed it. And I think that's important to note as well. Like it is the jet lag, the cold. But I want to be really, I want to be really clear here. This is not an excuse, right? This is not an excuse. You all ask for an explanation and we get. We're giving an explanation. It is not an excuse. I don't want that to be the leading piece of this, as for the only reason we're sharing this, because it was asked of me here. And the President certainly wanted to give an explanation himself, and that's what he did yesterday. We want to. We understand that it wasn't his best night. It wasn't a great debate. We understand that. And we understand what supporters saw, what the American people saw, and what you all saw. And so we wanted to give an explanation. So I don't want to get into this. Are you giving this excuse? Not an excuse. We're giving you what our explanation was. We want to continue to make sure that we do everything that we can to deliver for the American people. That's what we're going to continue to do.
- [06:58]
Ted Cruz
I mean, Senator, you hear this. It's not an excuse. We're just, you asked, so we're just telling you. 14 days after international travel, the President was suffering from jet lag. So there's the story.
- [07:09]
Ben Ferguson
You know, I gotta say, every time I hear Karine Jean Pierre, I think she is the opposite of William Jefferson Clinton. William Jefferson Clinton, you'll recall, was referred to as an. An unusually good liar. That he could lie and it was believable and he'd bite his lip and he, you know, pointed, push his thumb together and you just, you believed he felt your pain. He could lie better than anyone. I think Karine Jean Pierre is an unusually bad liar.
- [07:39]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Like, when she does it, it's laughably false.
- [07:44]
Ben Ferguson
One of the things, if you're going to be in a job as a media hack and trying to spin people, typically you learn not to tell just brazen lies that are absurd. When Karine Jean Pierre stood in the White House press briefing room and said.
- [07:59]
Unnamed Political Commentator
You know, people are not just coming across the border it's not happening. They're not walking across the border.
- [08:03]
Ben Ferguson
It doesn't happen.
- [08:04]
Unnamed Political Commentator
That was such a wild lie. Literally every reporter could pull up on their phone videos of it happening while she was talking. That's a bad lie here. This jet lag thing is a really bad lie.
- [08:16]
Ben Ferguson
Like anyone who's actually flown internationally.
- [08:19]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Look, jet lag is a thing. It's a reasonable thing. You feel it a day, maybe two, when you fly from one place to the other. You know, he was in Europe. He was there for Normandy. I was there for Normandy. I gotta say, the idea that I'd be complaining now, you know, I've still got jet lag because several weeks ago I was in Europe, that's just obviously stupid. And they don't want the explanation to be the explanation that every person with eyeballs and common sense saw, which is, this is an old man who's suffering from dementia. That's the answer. And so, well, you know, he was in a plane a few weeks earlier. Let's call it jet lag. Yeah, yeah. Maybe people out there are dumb enough to believe that.
- [09:00]
Ted Cruz
Well, and they went on TV like a full court press to try to sell this at the White House. This was another one of their interviews outside of Jean Pierre where they're like, all right, guys, everybody got on TV and sell that the President is jet lagged.
- [09:13]
Unnamed Political Analyst
Apparently the president apologized to everyone in the room saying, this is not an excuse excuse, but it is an explanation. And he blamed the extensive foreign travel that he did in the lead up to the CNN debate for his poor performance. Just a reminder for everyone, he did go to France for the D Day anniversary. And then he turned right back around and went to Italy for the G7 summit. And he told the room, I didn't listen to my staff. So the suggestion there being his staff did not think this was a good idea. And then he apparently said, I almost fell asleep on stage. I just want to unpack this new explanation for a second as the explanation for why his debate performance was so bad. I find it a little bit puzzling. And frankly, I'm not sure that a lot of people are going to find this reassuring. If anything, some folks might hear this and be even more concerned. Yes, there were two foreign trips in the lead up to the June 27 CNN debate, but he returned from Italy on June 15. The debate again was on June 27. So we're talking about roughly 12 days in between when he was back in the States. And remember a part of those 12 days, about a full week he actually spent with his advisers at Camp David for the sole purpose of really focusing on debate prep. So why is the President falling asleep on the debate stage at the hours of 9:00pm to 10:30?
- [10:36]
Ted Cruz
I can't believe, by the way, that CNN saying that they have all turned on him, like they have just completely turned on him. With MJ Lee, they're saying, I find it a little bit puzzling that this guy's at Camp David for a whole week and you've done debate prep. So let's pull back the curtain on that when you've done your most vigorous debate prep. Senator and I, I've been blessed to be in several different debate preps for, for different major races. It doesn't last 12 hours in a day. None of the ones I've done. Certainly not for seven days straight. It's usually two or three hours of intense debate prep and then you take a legit break.
- [11:07]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, look, and I've never done a week of debate prep. Typically when I do debate prep, it is one to two days is what's involved. You know, the irony of their jet lag explanation is the fact that we know he spent a week at Camp David where the only thing on the plate was getting ready for debate prep. And I am certain he slept a lot of hours that week.
- [11:28]
Unnamed Political Commentator
And listen, he should. One of the things I do for.
- [11:31]
Ben Ferguson
Debate prep, you know, there are studies that have been done. This is something when I was arguing cases at the Supreme Court, I looked at, there were medical studies that are done that show the more sleep you get, the faster your brain thinks, the faster your neurons fire. Before a Supreme Court argument, I used to, the night before try to get nine to 10 hours sleep, which is a lot more sleep. I typically get six to seven hours sleep a night before a Supreme Court argument, I would try to get nine to 10 hours sleep a night.
- [12:04]
Unnamed Political Commentator
And I do that both the night.
- [12:05]
Ben Ferguson
Before the argument and I do that two nights before the argument. The reason, two nights before the argument. Years ago in college, I used to teach at Princeton Review the test prep class that helps students. I taught the SAT and I taught the lsat.
- [12:22]
Unnamed Political Commentator
And when I was teaching at Princeton Review, we would teach students to do the same thing. Get a ton of sleep the night.
- [12:28]
Ben Ferguson
Before your examination and get a ton of sleep two nights before your exam. Because there's scientific studies that show the.
- [12:36]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Sleep you get two nights before an.
- [12:38]
Ben Ferguson
Event affects your brain speed.
- [12:40]
Unnamed Political Commentator
And what I found in Supreme Court.
- [12:42]
Ben Ferguson
Arguments is that if I had two.
- [12:44]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Nights of supercharging sleep nine to 10 hours of sleep, two nights in a row that when I'd stand up there for the argument at the podium, my brain was a half second faster, a half second quicker to respond to a question, to think about a line of argument, to anticipate where the other side.
- [13:01]
Ben Ferguson
Was going, to anticipate where a justice was going.
- [13:04]
Unnamed Political Commentator
When I prepare for political debates, I do the same thing. I try to have two nights of nine to 10 hours sleep the two nights before. And it makes a real difference.
- [13:13]
Ben Ferguson
Your brain is fast and quick.
- [13:15]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Biden had an entire week where he could sleep. He could have slept 12 hours a day, every day for a week. And so the idea that they're saying, well, yeah, but two weeks earlier he was on a plane, so it's jet lag. Nobody who's ever flown an airplane believes that.
- [13:31]
Ted Cruz
There's also this big interview that's about to take place. And it's become actually even bigger since when you and I mentioned it. There is George Stephanopoulos, and I think we should remind people who he is. He is a hardcore lefty that acts like he's now some sort of journalist, even though he was best known for defending Bill Clinton and giving Bill Clinton some of the best spin lines in history. It's the friendliest person.
- [13:54]
Unnamed Political Commentator
I think he was basically Kareem Jean Pierre for Bill Clinton. He was a press staffer. He was a comm staffer. He was in the White House. He was on the Clinton White House staff.
- [14:03]
Ben Ferguson
I think his title is communications director. So he wasn't actually the press secretary.
- [14:08]
Unnamed Political Commentator
But he was the press flack. He was the person. He was the Jen Psaki. He was the one who was in charge of communications for Bill Clinton for years.
- [14:16]
Ben Ferguson
He was very close to Bill Clinton.
- [14:18]
Unnamed Political Commentator
And then he jumped over. As many Dem communication hacks do. They leave that role and they jump over and they become like Jen Psaki. They get their own show. Well, George Stephanopoulos went from being the.
- [14:30]
Ben Ferguson
Official spokesperson for the Democratic President to.
- [14:33]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Being at ABS ABC acting as effectively.
- [14:37]
Ben Ferguson
The official spokesperson for the Democrat president.
- [14:40]
Ted Cruz
And he's the guy that's gonna get this interview. We now have word that this. They've decided to change this interview to a, quote, prime time special on Friday night to save, in essence, I think, his presidency. And Democrats aren't even buying msnbc. And one of the hardcore lefties out there, Debbie Dingle, she said this on MSNBC on July 4th.
- [15:08]
Debbie Dingell
They've been after Joe Biden all week. So he's got one thing to do, which is to get up and go out to prove to people that he can do the job, will do the job and has the stamina. Took too long to make some of the phone calls he showed up. I think he's in a bubble wrap by many of his senior staff. And I think he's starting to do what he has to do. One interview tomorrow, he's not going to fix this.
- [15:30]
Ted Cruz
One interview tomorrow is, quote, not going to fix this. This is one of the most extreme lefties on MSNBC saying that.
- [15:39]
Ben Ferguson
Well, and listen, one of the most revealing things, that ABC interview is taped. It's not live.
- [15:46]
Unnamed Political Commentator
If they were real journalists, you know what ABC should do? You know what George Stephanopoulos should insist on doing? The debate was live. Let's have this interview be live. The American people need to see how you answer real time, which means we abc, we're not going to edit out when you stare blankly out at the.
- [16:02]
Ben Ferguson
Wall and don't know what I say.
- [16:04]
Unnamed Political Commentator
We're not going to edit out when you stumble. The fact that it is taped means.
- [16:08]
Ben Ferguson
That George Stephanopoulos can go in and say, okay, oh, this exchange looked really bad for Joe Biden. Let's cut that out, okay?
- [16:15]
Unnamed Political Commentator
He's staring off at the ceiling and doesn't know what's going on.
- [16:18]
Ben Ferguson
Let's definitely not air that.
- [16:20]
Unnamed Political Commentator
And let's find snippets where he seems cogent and let's piece them together. Now, if George Stephanopoulos was wearing his hat as Democrat operative putting together a TV campaign for Biden, that would be.
- [16:34]
Ben Ferguson
A reasonable thing to do.
- [16:36]
Unnamed Political Commentator
But he's at least pretending to be a journalist and ABC is pretending to be an actual news organization. And so anyone who actually cares about journalism or news should insist the thing be live. Let the American people see how he acts in real time.
- [16:53]
Ted Cruz
Let's take a step back from this and I want to ask you another question. You and I actually haven't even talked about this yet, so I'm genuinely intrigued to know what you think. And that is, are we going to look back weeks, months, years from now and are we going to look at this moment in history and say, was this the biggest political cover up in history? That we had an incapacitated President that the American people were sheltered from, that the White House was covering for and lying for? That the media was covering for and lying for? I go back to November, okay? Not that long ago, White House Press Secretary Jean Pierre said this to the American people.
- [17:36]
Unnamed White House Official
I would put the President's stamina, President's wisdom, ability to get this done on behalf of the American people against anyone, anyone on any day of the week.
- [17:48]
Ted Cruz
I mean, that was, that was November, Senator. And I think this is one of the biggest witness. Yeah, she is a really bad liar. But I mean, this is, this is one of the biggest political cover ups I've ever witnessed, you know?
- [18:03]
Ben Ferguson
Yes and no. Of course it's a cover up. Of course everyone is complicit in it. Of course the Democrats all know and they're lying. Of course the media all know and they're lying. But at the same time, it's not a cover up. Anyone whose head is not plunged into the sand. You knew before the debate last week that Joe Biden was mentally incapacitated.
- [18:23]
Unnamed Political Commentator
You knew that. It was obvious. Anyone who's ever had an elderly relative, a loved one dealing with dementia, dealing with Alzheimer's, you've seen that distant look.
- [18:34]
Ben Ferguson
That shuffle, that look of confusion.
- [18:36]
Unnamed Political Commentator
We see that every week. It's obvious look. We've never seen a president do what.
- [18:41]
Ben Ferguson
Joe Biden does, which is not talked.
- [18:43]
Unnamed Political Commentator
To anyone in the Senate in three and a half years. I've had no conversations with Joe Biden. He has had no conversations with virtually any Republican senator. We sit around at lunch and talk.
- [18:54]
Ben Ferguson
About how weird that is because a.
- [18:57]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Major part of the job being in the Senate is dealing with the President.
- [19:01]
Ben Ferguson
Working with the President.
- [19:03]
Unnamed Political Commentator
You know, just over a month ago, I passed the FAA reauthorization bill.
- [19:09]
Ben Ferguson
That is a huge bill.
- [19:11]
Unnamed Political Commentator
$110 billion investment in infrastructure and safety for aviation, enhancing safety for the flying public, hiring new air traffic controllers to keep people safe when they fly, investing billions in airports, putting collision detection technology on runways to keep people safe. Also expanding competition. Just Texas alone. Hundreds of thousands of jobs depend upon aviation. We have major airlines based in Texas. Millions of jobs depend indirectly on aviation. It was a huge bipartisan victory. I was the lead author along with Maria Cantwell. We passed it. We passed it on the floor of the Senate. 88 to Ford includes within it. Finally, finally, finally, a direct flight from San Antonio to Reagan Washington National Airport. Something San Antonio, that entire community has been fighting for, for 20 years. That was a victory I wrote into law and we won it. Now, you know what would normally happen when you pass major bipartisan legislation.
- [20:16]
Ted Cruz
I'm assuming you'd say the President might get in contact with you.
- [20:20]
Unnamed Political Commentator
You'd have a signing ceremony in a typical, normal, functioning administration when there's big bipartisan legislation, the next step is the White House contacts you and says, we're going to have a Signing ceremony. The signing ceremony, you go. Both the Democrats and Republicans who are the authors of the bill go. And the President signs the bill into law in the Oval Office. And there are people. There'd be. In this instance, you would have people from the airlines there, you'd have people from airports there, you'd have the pilots unions there, you'd have the flight attendants unions there. You'd have everyone impacted by the bill there in the Oval Office. I've been to a lot of signing ceremonies. It's pretty typical. You know what the Biden White House.
- [21:00]
Ted Cruz
Said, I wouldn't even be surprised. They didn't even know you guys were doing it.
- [21:04]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Oh, no, no. They knew. They knew. And Biden signed the bill when it, when it came over, he signed it into law, but there was no ceremony. And the reason there's no ceremony, they cannot have him interact with other people because it is blazingly obvious this man is incapacitated. That has been the way the administration has operated from day one. They don't do signing ceremonies like other administrations. They hide him. And so, yes, it's a cover up, but at another level, no, it's not really a cover up because everybody knows the thing. That is stunning Ben on the Democrat.
- [21:42]
Ben Ferguson
Side of the aisle, nobody cares.
- [21:44]
Unnamed Political Commentator
I have yet to speak to a single Democrat senator or a single Democrat House member who's expressed genuine concern that.
- [21:53]
Ben Ferguson
The commander in chief does not know what time of day it is that.
- [21:56]
Unnamed Political Commentator
The commander in chief can't find his way out of a locked box. I haven't heard any concern from a single Democrat that America is much less safe than. Because our commander in chief is Mr. Magoo. He is a confused individual with serious disabilities who is not able to handle a difficult situation. Look, when you see the G8 leaders gathered together and Joe Biden starts wandering off and the Italian prime minister has.
- [22:31]
Ben Ferguson
To go and grab his hand and lead him back.
- [22:35]
Unnamed Political Commentator
That's not good. It's not good for the American President to be treated as the elderly uncle everyone needs to take care of and cut his food for and make sure there are no big pieces so that he can, you know, we can steer the airplane into the mouth. That is horrible for America and frustratingly bad. No Democrat cares. The only reason anyone's discussing this now is suddenly on the debate. The American people saw it and the Democrats are afraid they might lose. If they didn't think they were going to lose, every Democrat would say, stick with him forever. We're great. Doesn't matter if the president is competent or not.
- [23:12]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. And there seems to be a real divide now as now democrats are coming out, elected officials publicly saying it's time for him to step down and not or at least not run for reelection. Other democrats are close to him trying to save him. I'm going to play one of those in a moment. But let me tell you about patriot mobile. If you have a cell phone and probably 99% of you do, you may not know that when you pay your monthly bill every month to big mobile that you are giving big donations by default to democratic causes, candidates and organizations, including organizations like planned parenthood. That is why patriot mobile was started about 10, well over 10 years ago, more than a decade ago. Patriot mobile is America's only christian conservative wireless provider. And when I say only, I mean it. Now Patriot mobile is incredible because they actually take about 5% of your bill every month at no extra cost to you and they give it back to conservative causes and organizations. Yes. That support your first and your second amendment rights, support the free speech, support the sanctity of life. And that is why I love patriot mobile. Now I switched to patriot mobile and look, there's a lot of people that say I don't, I don't know about switching. I need my great coverage I have now look, in 2024 you're using the same exact cell towers. When you switch to patriot mobile you're gonna get the same coverage that you're used to. And when you pay your bill every month, you know you're standing up for the values that you believe in. Switching has also never been easier. You don't even have to go to a store, you just have to call them and they do everything over the phone. It is easy. They have a hundred percent u. S based customer service team because they believe in actually employing great americans and they make switching that much easier. So keep your same cell number you have now, keep your phone you've got or upgrade. The team will help you find the best plan for your needs and you make a difference in what you believe in. Every time you make a call just go to patriotmobile.com verdict that's patriotmobile.com verdict or 972patriot that's 972patriot get free activation when you use the offer code verdict. Join me make the switch today and make a difference with every phone call you make. Patriot mobile.com verdict or 972 Patriot One Democrat that went on TV I guess he's like the sacrificial lamb. Lamb is representative, Democratic representative Dan Goldman. He said this about The President trying to reassure Americans he's really fine, there's no cognitive decline.
- [25:47]
Dan Goldman
And the people who are with him every day have indicated as well that it was an aberration and it is an anomaly. And if that is the case, then we will see that and we will see that over the next week and he will restore our faith and confidence in his fitness. And then everything else between the two of them cuts in favor of Joe Biden. So people are right to have some concerns after that performance. And I don't think there's any excuse performance that Joe Biden offered. I think he was trying to explain how he had such a poor performance. But he's accepted it, he's owned it, he's acknowledged it, as we all have. And what we need to see from him is that vibrant and whip smart president that we have had for the last three and a half years.
- [26:36]
Ted Cruz
And the people, I mean you listen to him and then you go to the facts. Biden's post debate checkup actually contradicts what the White House said. Uh, they, they have, they've now confirmed that and President Biden confirmed. And again, I'm quoting reports coming out of the White House to the Democratic governors. Remember they had this 91 1, you know, all hands on deck meeting with Democratic governors to try to reassure them that he had a medical checkup following the presidential debate, despite earlier statements from the White House press secretary on multiple occasions that he had not received any medical exam since February. We played some of that in the last show. The White House later clarified that Biden was seen by a doctor for a brief, quote, brief checkup due to the lingering symptoms from a cold which did not include any major tests. So even when they lie to you, they still can't. There's, they're now lying to either the governors or the American people or they're just lying about all of it. Your thoughts?
- [27:33]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Yeah.
- [27:33]
Ben Ferguson
Look, the cold is nonsense. The jet lag is nonsense. Everyone knows that. The issue is that he's too old and he's suffering from dementia. That is blazingly true. They're trying to distract from this.
- [27:46]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Look, I'll give you a sense of.
- [27:48]
Ben Ferguson
How bad it is. Even the Praetorian Guard, even the most zealous defenders of Joe Biden and the Democrats, and by that I mean the New York Times even, they're turning on it. On Wednesday of this week, the New York Times wrote a story the headline of which is Biden tells allies he knows he has Only Days to salvage candidacy. Here's what The New York Times wrote, by the way, this is not an editorial, this is a news story.
- [28:15]
Unnamed Political Commentator
President Joe Biden has told key allies that he knows the coming days are crucial and understands that he may not.
- [28:20]
Ben Ferguson
Be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot convince voters that he is up to the job. After a disastrous debate performance last week, according to two allies who have spoken with him, Biden has emphasized that he.
- [28:32]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Is still deeply committed to fight for his reelection, but understands that his viability.
- [28:36]
Ben Ferguson
As a candidate is on the line.
- [28:39]
Unnamed Political Commentator
The president sought to project confidence Wednesday in a call with campaign staff even as White House officials were trying to.
- [28:47]
Ben Ferguson
Calm nerves inside the ranks of the Biden administration.
- [28:51]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Quote, no one's pushing me out, biden.
- [28:53]
Ben Ferguson
Said in the call.
- [28:54]
Unnamed Political Commentator
I'm not leaving.
- [28:56]
Ben Ferguson
Vice President Kamala Harris was also on the line.
- [28:58]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Quote, we will not back down. We will follow our president's lead, she said. We will fight and we will win.
- [29:04]
Ben Ferguson
Rah, rah, rah.
- [29:06]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Still, Biden allies said the president had.
- [29:08]
Ben Ferguson
Privately acknowledged that his next few appearances heading into the July 4th holiday weekend.
- [29:14]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Must go well, particularly in an interview.
- [29:17]
Ben Ferguson
Scheduled for Friday with George Stepanopoulos of ABC News and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Quote, he knows that if he has.
- [29:25]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Two more events like that, we're in.
- [29:27]
Ben Ferguson
A different place by the end of the weekend, said one of the allies, referring to Biden's halting and unfocused performance on the debate.
- [29:34]
Unnamed Political Commentator
That person who talked to the president.
- [29:36]
Ben Ferguson
In the past 24 hours spoke on.
- [29:38]
Unnamed Political Commentator
The condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation. The accounts of his conversations with allies.
- [29:45]
Ben Ferguson
Are the first indication to become public.
- [29:48]
Unnamed Political Commentator
That the president is seriously considering whether he can recover from after a devastating performance on the debate stage in Atlanta.
- [29:56]
Ben Ferguson
Last Thursday, a new poll from the.
- [29:58]
Unnamed Political Commentator
New York Times in Siena College showed the former President Donald Trump now leads Biden 49 to 43% among likely voters nationally, a 3 point swing towards the.
- [30:10]
Ben Ferguson
Republican from just a week earlier.
- [30:12]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Before the debate, this is they're terrified. And note, they're terrified about one thing.
- [30:20]
Ben Ferguson
They think Biden's going to lose.
- [30:22]
Unnamed Political Commentator
If they thought a mentally incompetent person was going to win, they'd be fine. But they're terrified that there are at least some people who say, gosh, maybe the commander in chief should, should be aware of what's going on around him.
- [30:39]
Ted Cruz
So let me ask you this. In the poll numbers that you just mentioned, also connect to some other polls that have come out and that is they're polling every name against Donald Trump. There is only one name right now that. That in the polling shows that it could. That they could, quote, beat Donald Trump. That is the name that you gave nine months ago that we've been talking about ever since. And Michelle Obama, there've been pretty clear messages coming from her camp. She's not interested. And then the next person that everyone now seems to be thinking is probably the one that would replace him is Kamala Harris. And. And that's just from the money aspect of things. She's the one that can use the money they've raised. She's the one that's already set up to just keep walking forward. The same team would be there, the same campaign manager, all the staff is around there. So she would be the, quote, easiest choice. You look at this, it doesn't say she could win, but is she the front runner or is it Michelle Obama? Or who is it, in your opinion?
- [31:45]
Ben Ferguson
Look, I still think it's Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama is the only candidate the Democrats could push Kamala aside for. They know Kamala is a terrible candidate. They're really scared. They don't want her at the top of the ticket. But they're bean counters the way their party is. Whatever your race, whatever your gender, whoever.
- [32:05]
Unnamed Political Commentator
You are, that is the dominant feature about you.
- [32:07]
Ben Ferguson
It matters more than anything else.
- [32:09]
Unnamed Political Commentator
The people who talk about putting Gavin Newsom in and pushing Kamala aside, the Democrat Party would. Would. Would spontaneously explode if they pushed a.
- [32:21]
Ben Ferguson
Black woman aside for a rich white man.
- [32:24]
Unnamed Political Commentator
They're not going to do that.
- [32:26]
Ben Ferguson
There is the number of people who can push Kamala aside in the Democrat Party.
- [32:32]
Unnamed Political Commentator
It is a set of one.
- [32:33]
Ben Ferguson
And the only one is Michelle Obama.
- [32:35]
Unnamed Political Commentator
She too is an African American woman.
- [32:37]
Ben Ferguson
She could push Kamala aside.
- [32:40]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Look, the polling we've seen where.
- [32:42]
Ben Ferguson
There was a poll that came out.
- [32:43]
Unnamed Political Commentator
This week that showed Michelle Obama with a double digit lead over Donald Trump. She would be a very, very dangerous.
- [32:51]
Ben Ferguson
Candidate if it's not Michelle Obama.
- [32:54]
Unnamed Political Commentator
If Michelle says no, she might. I hope she says no. You know, I want to speak directly to Michelle. Hey, you're really rich. You're enjoying the life of a movie star. Private jets are fun. The Hamptons are fun. You're palling around with people who are famous with rock stars. You don't need to go to work. You don't need to bother yourself with pushing a Marxist agenda to destroy America. Leave it to others to destroy America. You and your family have done enough to damage the world. Enjoy the life of a gazillionaire. I don't know that my pitch is persuasive.
- [33:26]
Ben Ferguson
But I hope it is because it.
- [33:27]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Would be very good if she decides not to run. If she does decide not to run, then I think the person that replaces Biden probably is Kamala, because I don't think anyone else can. I think Kamala is a really weak candidate. She is a very unpopular vice president. There's a reason when she ran For President in 2020, she got zero delegates. She couldn't even make it to Iowa and get any support. But if she becomes the nominee, they probably plug someone in there as a VP to try to balance it. It wouldn't surprise me to see I could see Gavin Newsom as a VP to either Kamala Harris or to Michelle Obama. I think Gavin Newsom is very much on the VP train. You know, I could see a Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, as a.
- [34:19]
Ben Ferguson
VP to either one of them as well.
- [34:21]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Both of those, I think, are real possibilities. But at the end of the day, I think the only two nominees who have a credible chance replacing Biden are Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris. And if I were a Democrat, I'd be all in on Michelle because the polling shows she wins and Kamala loses.
- [34:42]
Ted Cruz
Final two questions for you. One, when do you think the media has to stop this onslaught of attacks on the President? Because they're going full court press. Is it another week? And then they got to dial it back in case he does continue to be the nominee, they can't push him out. And number two, how important is this primetime taped interview Friday night for Joe Biden's future?
- [35:08]
Ben Ferguson
Well, I mean, let me start with number two. The interview on Friday is very important.
- [35:14]
Unnamed Political Commentator
If he goes and just craps the.
- [35:16]
Ben Ferguson
Bed, that could be fatal.
- [35:20]
Unnamed Political Commentator
I think ABC and Stephanopoulos are going.
- [35:23]
Ben Ferguson
To do everything they can to prevent that from happening. I think they're going to edit the.
- [35:27]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Heck out of the interview. They should run it live. And anyone who cares, like ABC should.
- [35:33]
Ben Ferguson
Be embarrassed about itself that it's not running it live.
- [35:36]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Because their editing will be designed to create a false impression, to protect Joe Biden, to turn it into a campaign video. If they're a real journalistic outlet. You know, when I do interviews, I do them live. And if I say something dumb, you know what? The camera catches it and all the world can hear. And it's not ABC's job to be doing the PR and damage control for.
- [36:00]
Ben Ferguson
The Democrats, but that's what they're doing.
- [36:03]
Unnamed Political Commentator
I think the interview matters a lot. I also think it's interesting you're seeing Democrats publicly breaking Ship. So Lloyd Doggett, very liberal Democrat from Austin, Texas, became the first Democrat member of Congress to say the president should step aside. Two others, Jared golden of Maine and Marie Glusenkamp Perez of Washington, both Democrats, both said they believe Biden will lose in November. That's significant that you're seeing elected Democrats coming out saying that. Another one, Seth Moulton, another Democrat from Massachusetts, raised real questions about whether Biden can win. He said, quote, I deeply respect President Biden and all the great things he's.
- [36:51]
Ben Ferguson
Done for America, but I have grave.
- [36:52]
Unnamed Political Commentator
Concerns about his ability to defeat Donald Trump. Winning will require prosecuting the case in the media, in town halls, and at campaign stops all over the country. President Biden needs to demonstrate that he can do that. The unfortunate reality is that the status quo will likely deliver us President Trump. We're seeing that happening more and more and more now. Your first question was, how long will the media continue to attack? Listen, on the debate night, I predicted if this is going to happen, it's going to shake out in 21 days. So we're a week into it. I think we have two more weeks ahead of us. We will go into the Republican Convention in two weeks. I think we'll know what happens by then. A final point and one that has.
- [37:37]
Ben Ferguson
Not been discussed a great deal.
- [37:39]
Unnamed Political Commentator
I think all of this drama impacts President Trump very significantly, and in particular, it impacts his vice presidential choice. Trump is in the middle of presumably picking who he wants to be vp. Lots of names have been floated. There are lots of short lists, lots of things discussing. Well, normally when you're picking a VP candidate, you know who your opponent is, you know what you're fighting against. In this instance, it's a very difficult situation for Trump because the kind of VP he might pick if he's running against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could be a very different VP than if he's running against Michelle Obama. I think right now the Trump team is feeling incredibly confident. I think they think they're going to win, they're going to beat Joe Biden. I think they're feeling on top of the world. I can tell you if the news broke tomorrow that Biden was not the nominee anymore and it was going to be Michelle Obama. The Trump team, if it were not at a major emergency mode level of this is serious, then they'd be misreading the situation because Michelle Obama's the Democrat nominee is incredibly dangerous, and that could easily impact the vice presidential nominee. So, for example, if it's Michelle Obama, maybe Trump picks Tim Scott deciding that he wants to go fight and fight more aggressively for African American votes. That's one possible consideration that maybe that's a little bit less of a consideration if Joe Biden is at the top of the ticket. So there are complicated, complicated chess moves that are playing out right now because of the uncertainty of who's going to be the nominee.
- [39:25]
Ted Cruz
We're going to keep covering it all. Don't forget, we do the show Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. We have our weekend review on Saturday for what you may have missed during the week. We're going to be covering this. We'll have a lot to say, I'm sure, after this interview on Friday night with the president and George Stephanopoulos. Don't forget, share this wherever you are, on social media and the center, and I will see you back here in a couple of days.